


A Test of Courage

by KamikazeWorld



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, Halloween, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts II, Sky and Land Halloween Exchange 2020, Sleepovers under the stars, Soriku Halloween Exchange 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27270757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KamikazeWorld/pseuds/KamikazeWorld
Summary: They had been back on the islands for a while now, trying to settle back into something resembling normalcy after that last battle with Xemnas and his organisation. When Sora had realized how close they were to Halloween, he had been absolutely ecstatic, insisting he and Riku do something special for the occasion. And so it was that they found themselves on the little play island just in time to still see the sun set beyond the horizon, with everything they would need for an outdoor sleepover packed in their respective bags.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	A Test of Courage

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhh IT'S FINALLY DONE! ; w ; Just in time for Halloween, too! This is based on the sleepover prompt from @GayToTheDawn on twitter for our server's Halloween fic exchange! I hope you like it, Iris!!! <333

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Riku asked, his eyebrows drawn together while he tied off their boat next to the dock.

“Sure it is!” Sora called back from where he had run ahead, turning just long enough to flash him a toothy grin, hoisting his backpack further up on his shoulder.

They had been back on the islands for a while now, trying to settle back into something resembling normalcy after that last battle with Xemnas and his organisation. When Sora had realized how close they were to Halloween, he had been absolutely ecstatic, insisting he and Riku do something special for the occasion. And so it was that they found themselves on the little play island just in time to still see the sun set beyond the horizon, with everything they would need for an outdoor sleepover packed in their respective bags. Riku still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, being out here after dark, but he never could say no to Sora for long.

“Race you to the islet!” Sora called, running full speed up to the bridge.

“Hey! It’s cheating if you have that big of a headstart, you know!” Riku yelled after him, but he shook his head with a chuckle. With the boat safely tied off, he grabbed his own bag and followed his energetic friend, taking it at a leisurely pace just to mess with him.

“You took your time,” Sora scoffed, but Riku saw how the corners of his mouth wanted to tilt up. He shrugged.

“Can’t let you boss me around, after all.”

Sat on the paopu tree, side by side, the boys watched in companionable silence as the sun crept down the horizon, taking the light with it and inviting darkness to slowly cover them like a heavy blanket.

“I’ve missed this,” Sora said, unbidden. His eyes were still trained on the horizon, and he looked… content, Riku decided.

“Watching the sunset?” Riku asked for lack of any better response. Sora shook his head.

“This. Hanging out, just the two of us. I missed you, Riku.”

He turned to look at Riku, blue eyes catching turquoise, sincere and happy. Riku couldn’t help himself; he smiled.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it. Hanging out all three of us is nice, but…”

“But sometimes I want to just be with _you_ ,” Sora finished.

They both smiled at each other as the last of daylight left them, content to just be and happy to be by the other’s side. Riku reached out and ruffled Sora’s hair when he felt it got too mushy, earning him an offended shout followed by laughter and some impromptu wrestling which ended when Sora fell from the tree and nearly landed flat on his butt. The two of them laughed the entire way back to the shore where they had left their things, their spirits high despite the darkness and everything beyond it.

With the sun gone, they brought out the prepared wood to set up a campfire on the beach. Riku got saddled with most of the actual work, while Sora dug around for marshmallows, chocolate, bananas and other snacks to eat by the fire. With a triumphant noise and arms full of snacks, he plopped down in the sand next to Riku, who was blowing life into a rapidly growing fire.

“You realize we could’ve just used a fire spell, right?” Sora asked, amused.

“Yeah, but where’s the challenge in that?” came Riku’s reply, and he swiped the freshly opened bag of marshmallows straight out of Sora’s arms and plopped one in his mouth. He laughed at Sora’s indignant yell of protest.

With the fire properly going and the sunlight long gone, it was of course time to share scary stories. For Sora, this was the perfect opportunity to tell Riku all about his adventures in Halloween Town. He told him about how Donald’s cloaking magic had made them look horrifying to fit in with all the scary inhabitants, about Jack the Pumpkin King and the Heartless and Oogie Boogie and something about stealing Christmas?

“... and, oh yeah, I met Santa! He’s actually real, you know, so suck on that!”

“What?” Riku choked out with a startled laugh. “No way.”

“Yes way! He put me on the naughty list because you made me believe he wasn’t real! I was eight, how was I supposed to know you were lying?”

Riku, because he was clearly a bastard, tipped his head back and laughed at him. Sora slapped him on the arm, but couldn’t help laughing along with him, always swept up in each other’s paces.

“What about you? Do you have any stories from your travels?” Sora asked, bright and innocent eyes trained on Riku, barely concealing his anticipation.

Perhaps Sora should have known to expect it, but he still felt something cold twist in his gut when Riku, instead of regaling him with his own tales of adventure, went quiet, his gaze drifting down towards the marshmallow that was slowly burning next to the warmth of the fire.

“Most of my experiences out there were horror stories for real,” he confessed quietly.

Sora looked at his friend, that cold dread creeping up from his gut to grasp at his heart instead. He shuffled in the sand, scooting over until he was seated right next to Riku, and bumped their shoulders together, letting himself lean against him in comfort.

“Yeah, well,” he muttered, voice as quiet as Riku’s had been, “the nightmare is over now. Right?”

Instead of answering, Riku wrapped his own arm around Sora, a sort of half hug, and both of them stayed like that for quite some time, silently watching the fire.

“There were some things, though,” Riku said after a while. His voice was still low, but it pulled in all of Sora’s attention like the snap of a finger. “Like, one time I walked in on Hook with a full facial mask on. _That_ is probably a real horror story,” he joked, throwing a glance down at Sora to gauge his reaction, and was pleased to see the boy burst out laughing.

“No way!”

“Yes way. His sidekick - you know, the short one, I forgot his name - was running all around him and fawning over him. It was so weird,” he explained with a chuckle of his own. “The time I spent with Mickey was also mostly good. He helped me a lot with controlling my darkness, before… Well. You know.”

“Riku… You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But… Thank you.”

Sora smiled up at him, warm and honest, and it was impossible for Riku to not smile back, however small. They continued swapping little details from their time apart, keeping it mostly light while they roasted marshmallows and focused on each other’s company.

“This kind of reminds me of when we were little,” Riku said, “when we would stay up past bedtime under the blankets to tell ghost stories.”

“Oh yeah! And how we would always challenge each other to do scary stuff, like go into the secret place after dark.”

“I remember you always cried ‘cause you were so scared of the ghosts,” Riku added with a chuckle, amused to see Sora puff up in indignation.

“I am _not_ scared,” he protested. Riku just smirked at him.

“You sure? Guess you don’t need me to protect you anymore, then,” he teased. Sora huffed and crossed his arms, avoiding Riku’s eyes.

“I didn’t say that,” he muttered, face tinted red. It was an amazing sight for Riku, one that made him feel pleasantly warm in a way that had nothing to do with the fire.

“Want to try it out, then?”

“Huh?” came Sora’s intelligent reply.

“See who’s brave enough to enter the secret place.”

He nodded his head towards further in on the island, where the small opening to their cave was. Sora looked towards it, barely able to make it out in the dark, then back up at Riku, eyes searching his face.

“Riku… Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “Come on.”

With that, he stood up and reached for Sora’s hand to help him up as well. They went over to the cave entrance, steps sure from years of familiarity even in darkness, but once in front of it, they hesitated. Riku’s grip on Sora’s hand was tight.

“We don’t have to,” Sora said.

“No… I think I do. I need to face this.”

One squeeze, then Riku let go of Sora’s hand to enter the cave first, followed by Sora. It was pitch black until they got to the end of the tunnel, the cave itself illuminated only by the stars above.

“It feels smaller than I remember…” Sora commented. He could hear Riku’s too loud breaths next to him, and reached through the dark to take his hand, returning the squeeze from earlier. “I’m right here, Riku. It’s okay.” Riku squeezed back with no hesitation.

“You know what the scariest moment in my life was?” Riku asked, his voice rough and thick with emotions. “Not knowing if I’d ever get to see you again.”

Sora sucked in a breath.

“Me too. I was so happy I found you again. Don’t…” He trailed off, bit his lip though it was impossible to see in the dark. “Don’t go off without me anymore, okay?”

“I’ll try. I promise.”

They moved closer, using their touch and sense of each other to find one another in the barely there light, leaning in close until their lips could meet. It was a gentle press, and they stayed like that for a moment, simply existing together in the dark, until--

_**WHHOOOOUUUUUU**_

They jump apart at the sudden loud cry, Sora yelling and clinging to Riku, who had already summoned his keyblade. They stood there, tense, seconds passing, before they realized… it had been the sound of the wind. Just like when they had been little. When the realization properly sunk in, they did the only thing they could: they started laughing.

“Come on,” Riku managed between chuckles, “let’s go back to the fire.”

They walked back hand in hand, and later, when they had laid out their sleeping bags on the sand, the island air hot enough to let them sleep under the open sky and count the stars, they let their fingers link together.

“Hey, Riku?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy Halloween.”

Sora squeezed his hand. Riku squeezed back.

“Happy Halloween, Sora.”


End file.
